"Madness" - Piers Morgan slams Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for letting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave

Former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his first hat-trick for Barcelona in their 4-1 win over Valencia in La Liga on Sunday. The Gabonese striker was allowed to leave the Gunners in the January transfer window on a free transfer.

The move came about after the striker had fallen out of favor with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta following reports of disciplinary breaches. Arteta stripped Aubameyang of the club captaincy and sidelined home from the squad .

However, famous Arsenal fan and UK TV personality Piers Morgan slammed the club and Areta for letting Aubameyang leave.

After the striker's hat-trick on Sunday, Morgan tweeted:

“Thrilled for @Auba. Furious with @m8arteta for giving him away to do this elsewhere. What a terrible, TERRIBLE decision.”

He added:

"I hope all those Arsenal fans who celebrated Aubameyang’s departure because they ‘trust in Arteta’s process’ are proud of themselves? What a fiasco for our club that we forced out such a great player - and didn’t even bother to replace him. I was furious at the time, more so now."

Earlier, Morgan had posted tweets defending the striker and criticizing the manager's treatment of the player.

"Shameful decision by Arteta. What a disgusting way to treat a man who went - with the club’s full knowledge & permission - to help his sick mother," he had tweeted after reports of Aubameynag's rift with Arteta popped up.

He also highlighted the Gunners' troubles in front of goal in January, tweeting after Aubameyang's sale:

"This is a terrible transfer window for Arsenal. One goal in the whole of January and we sell our best striker for NOTHING with no replacement. Madness."

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Arsenal desperately need a striker

While letting Aubameyang go might have its reasons, not bringing in a replacement could cost the Gunners.

Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah have not been clinical enough in front of the goal. The former has scored just three goals in 18 appearances in the league this season while the latter has scored none in six appearances.

Aubameyang, meanwhile, scored four in 14 appearances in the league before being ostracized. Since joining the Gunners from Borussia Dortmund in 2018, he had scored 92 goals in 163 appearances.

Hence not replacing a striker of his quality can become a big cause for worry. The Gunners reportedly made attempts to sign Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina in January but he joined Juventus. They were also linked with Real Sociedad's Alexander Isak but the deal didn't materialize.

The Gunners currently sit in sixth position in the league. But with matches in hand, they are the likeliest to make it to the top four amongst their competitors. They will hope that the lack of business in January doesn't cost them towards the end of the season.